Wind Farms Whistle Across North America

Valero Energy Corporation, one of the largest oil and gas refiners in North America, has begun
its Phase I operation of a 50-megawatt (MW) windfarm located in McKee, TX. Just north of Amarillo, the McKee Windfarm will be constructed in two phases.

Initiated in December 2008, energy production from six General Electric (GE) 1.5-MW wind turbines of Phase I has been commissioned for startup. Phase II will consist of 27 GE 1.5-MW wind turbines expected to be erected and ready before the end of June 2009.

Though Texas has the largest installed capacity of wind power in the United States, Iowa also is a recognized leader in the development of wind-generated electricity. By successfully attracting such top turbine manufacturers as Siemens, Clipper and TPI Composites, Iowa has established itself as the major wind-turbine manufacturing hub in North America.

Acciona, a Spanish turbine manufacturer with operations in Iowa, awaits environmental approval for a 103.5-MW windfarm to be built in the Coquimbo region of Chile. And while Acciona lies in wait, construction has already been completed on two other windfarms in North America.

Central Plains Power LLC is in the commissioning stages of the Central Plains windfarm project, which broke ground in June 2008. Located in Marienthal, Kansas, the project consists of a 99-megawatt farm developed by RES and owned and operated by Westar.

Also, Cartier Wind Energy LLC has begun full commercial operation of the $110 million, 110-MW Carleton Windfarm in Québec, Canada. Comprised of 73 wind turbines, the farm should generate 340,000 MW per hour of energy per year.

IBM Eyes Iowa

Iowa recently announced that IBM will open a new technology service delivery center in Dubuque, IA. It is expected that the $100-million project will create up to 1,300 high-quality jobs.

IBM has signed a 10-year lease, with optional extension years, to occupy a historic building in downtown Dubuque. The City of Dubuque, Dubuque Initiatives and IBM plan to upgrade the facility to make it a “green” building. The renovation of the building will utilize industry-leading energy-efficient technology.

“We selected the City of Dubuque for our new delivery center based on several criteria, including the strong positive public-private partnership within the city, its competitive business model and the talent and skills that Iowa and the Midwest have to offer,” says Mike Daniels, senior vice president, IBM Global Technology Services.

The IBM announcement follows the addition of Microsoft building a large server farm in West Des Moines and Google's $600-million data center in Council Bluffs; both centers are slated to be completed in the spring of 2009.

IBM intends to employ several hundred people in the new facility by the end of this year and up to 1,300 by the end of 2010. IBM will work with institutions of higher learning in the tri-state area of Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin for recruitment and training of potential employees.

The technical service delivery center in Dubuque will primarily support IBM’s U.S. strategic outsourcing clients, providing server systems operations, security services and end-user services, including maintenance and monitoring of computer hardware and software systems. Employees will manage IBM’s world-class servers and storage systems that are critical for assuring optimal IT infrastructure performance. IBM’s global delivery network incorporates more than 80 strategic centers around the world and serves thousands of clients.